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Russia making military advances as Ukraine insists on “Christmas” propaganda while refusing to negotiate

By Uriel Araujo | December 28, 2024

A recent Newsweek story comments on the advances Russia has made across the border of the Moscow-controlled land, in the towns of Velyka Novosilka, Pokrovsk, Shevchenko, and Vuhledar, as reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think-tank. Russian forces took Dachenske around December 22, and, the next day, made advances in Novovasylivka and Ukrainka, which reportedly was seized on the 24th.

Russian strikes have been badly damaging the Ukrainian power grid, a problem which, as I wrote, is aggravated by Ukrainian corruption, which has been destroying its energy infrastructure. Besides that, we know there is an ongoing battle over numbers in Ukraine, with Zelensky disputing Western intelligence agencies death figures for Ukrainians amid a conscription crisis.

On December 24 Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko stated that Moscow is ready to seek some degree of compromise in negotiations with Ukraine, but that it will adhere strictly to the conditions laid out during the March 2022 Istanbul talks. The Istanbul talks, she added, “laid the very foundation, the basis of our approaches.” Earlier this month, the press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia is seeking not just a truce (in Ukraine) but rather peace – which can come “after our conditions are met.”

The Istanbul negotiations were of course the talks that “could have ended the war in Ukraine”, according to Samuel Charp (RAND Corporation scholar) and Sergey Radchenko (a Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Europe). The treaty being discussed back then would have declared Ukraine to remain a neutral state, and would put an end to NATO membership plans. We now know that by April 2022 those very negotiations were making a lot of progress when both the UK and the US pressured Zelensky into abandoning them, which he did, thereby aborting what could have been a successful peace plan.

The Western media in general has made so much about Christmas having “not prevented” Russia from continuing its aforementioned advances that it is worth delving into this issue, for it reveals other less mentioned aspects of the crisis. Biden, for one, has condemned an “outrageous” Christmas attack, and Zelensky talked about timing having been a “conscious decision” by Moscow. Such statements are part of a war of narratives, of course. Just two days earlier Ukraine struck residential buildings in a major drone attack in the Russian city of Kazan. In addition, recently, Ukraine intelligence services have admitted to being behind the terrorist attack that killed senior Russian General Igor Kirillov, by means of a bomb blast in a residential area in Moscow.

Still on the Christmas angle, most Westerns do not realize this, but it should be noted that in the predominantly Christian Orthodox Eastern Slavic world, Christmas is celebrated not on December 25 but rather on January 7. This is due to them adopting the Julian calendar for liturgical purposes rather than the Western Gregorian calendar: December 25 thus falls around two weeks later. This is so despite most Orthodox Slavic countries employing, outside of church cycles, the “international” Gregorian calendar for everyday civic life.

In fact, last year (2024) was the very first time Ukraine celebrated Christmas according to the Western Gregorian calendar, that is, on December 25, at least officially. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky changed the law in July of that same year, so as to further “abandon Russian heritage” – which does not make much sense, since the Julian calendar is also traditionally used by the Orthodox Churches in Greece, Romania, the Levant and most of Eastern Europe. In other words, the official holiday in Ukraine used to coincide with the date as observed in the Church.

Today, in practice, most Ukrainians just anticipate the Christmas commemorations, making it last until January 7 (which is December 25 on the Julian calendar). In his Christmas message last year, Zelensky said that (now for the first time) “we all celebrate Christmas together. On the same date… as one nation.” This is clearly a state attempt to interfere in religious life, as part of a cultural westernization campaign.

In line with that same spirit, the newly created independent church called the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) also changed its Christmas date to December 25 (of the Western Gregorian calendar). The OCU is a partially recognized Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which came into being (as an “autocephalous”, that is, independent church) in 2019.

The traditional Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) has been banned by the Ukrainian government, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations.” Even the US Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed its concern about the measure, with US Ambassador saying on 7 October that the US is concerned by the law’s potential to collectively punish entire religious communities which is rather ironic considering the role played by the US in the whole “autocephaly affair” from the beginning, the topic being a divisive issue within the Orthodox world.

The UOC, one of the largest denominations in the country, has indeed been the target of a crackdown, with holy sites having been seized (even years before 2022) and clergymen being judicially harassed. This is part of the very civil rights issue which relegates Russian minorities to “second class” status, according to Nicolai N. Petro, a professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island. All of that is hardly surprising considering the fact that neo-Nazism and the far-right have played a large part in the (US-backed) 2014 Maidan ultra-nationalist revolution in Ukraine. They still are major players in shaping national politics to this day, which often causes diplomatic problems with neighboring Poland.

The way the narrative about these issues is often pushed forward in the West (simply omitting the facts I mentioned above) can hardly be described as anything other than Western propaganda war and that pretty much is the case with regards to the Russian advances “on Christmas”.

Be it “on Christmas” or not, the fact is that a Ukrainian military victory remains a scenario outside of the realm of realistic options as Russia keeps on making further advances. When such is the case, peace talks and cease-fire talks must follow, for humanitarian reasons and out of pragmatic realistic decision-making. While the aforementioned civil rights issue (including religious persecution and the campaign against Orthodox churches) plus the matter of NATO expansion remain out of the subject of any talks, there will hardly be any progress in the political and diplomatic sphere.

Uriel Araujo, PhD is an anthropology researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts.

December 28, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Slovakia threatens Ukraine with power cuts

RT | December 28, 2024

Slovakia could cut electricity supplies to Ukraine if Kiev stops transporting Russian gas to EU nations, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said.

The Central European country, whose economy heavily relies on Russian gas, receives its supplies through Ukrainian territory via Soviet-era pipelines. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal announced earlier this month that, starting from 2025, Kiev will stop transporting Russian gas and will only use its pipeline system to deliver gas from alternative suppliers. The current contract with Moscow expires on December 31, with Kiev stating that it would not renew the deal.

“After January 1, we will assess the situation and potential reciprocal measures against Ukraine,” Fico said in a video message on Facebook. “If necessary, we will stop supplying electricity that Ukraine urgently needs during network outages.” He added that Bralistava could consider other retaliatory steps.

“Stopping the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine is not just a hollow political gesture. It’s an extremely costly move, one that we, in the European Union, will pay for,” Fico said.

He wrote on Facebook that, by scrapping the transit deal, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky “will cause billions worth of damages to the EU, including the Slovak Republic, and there will be a further reduction of the EU’s competitiveness.”

Ukrainian officials have criticized Fico for his recent trip to Moscow, arguing that the “pro-Russian” stance of Slovakia and Hungary are damaging the EU’s reputation and undermining the bloc’s resolve to help Kiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin argued this week that by terminating the transit deal Ukraine was “punishing” EU countries, as the continent continues to battle the energy crisis.

“We have always stood for [energy] supplies, for the depoliticization of economic issues. We have never refused supplies to Europe,” Putin said.

Kiev has so far not responded to potential sanctions from Slovakia. Bloomberg cited a person familiar with the matter as saying that Ukraine’s “counter-move” could be halting the transport of Russian oil to Slovakia.

December 28, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , | Leave a comment

How Speaking Out Against Harmful COVID Policies Can Get You Banned by the NHS

The story of a bizarre punishment

By MJ Sutherland | Health Advisory & Recovery Team | December 27, 2024

It’s been an incredible journey.

At the end of July 2021, I walked out of a well-paid job with Dumfries & Galloway Council. I resigned in protest—against fraudulent COVID testing, child maltreatment through misuse of tests and enforcement of mask mandates, and the complete disregard for their lack of authority to do any of it. What they were doing to Other People’s Children in schools was indefensible, and I wasn’t going to stay silent. Later I forced them to admit, via the Scottish Information Commissioner, that they had no legal authority for any of it. I’d long since left the council by this time.

At first, the threats were thinly veiled: hints that speaking out could jeopardise my job, suggestions that I should “be careful” what I said, because “we don’t want to lose you…” But when I refused to back down, their tactics became more direct. I was accused of spreading misinformation—despite providing mountains of evidence—and warned that my activism could “damage my reputation.” It was clear they wanted me to stop asking questions. I didn’t, and after being warned about my “behaviour” once too often, I walked out – but not before sending a damning email to hundreds, if not thousands, of council workers, accusing the council’s top brass of fraud, misfeasance and child abuse.

By October 2021, I was working with Phil Hyland of PJH Law, and together we sent the council a formal letter warning them of the crimes they’d be complicit in if they continued. It still feels surreal that I got to be part of that. I’d already sent similar notices and detailed evidence to the local health board, but both the council and NHS ignored everything I submitted.

Then, in December 2021, things escalated when an NHS “Consultant in Public Health” closed a local primary school, forcing children into self-isolation until they could produce a negative PCR test before they could return. Knowing the truth about these tests—their inaccuracies, their misuse—I couldn’t stay quiet. This wasn’t just bad policy; it was child abuse. We issued a Notice to Cease and Desist to Dr Regina McDevitt. We attached the PJH Law letter we’d sent to the council, along with the evidence pack detailing the harm these policies were causing.

This time, there was a reaction. But instead of addressing the harm to children or engaging with the evidence, NHS Dumfries & Galloway’s CEO, Jeff Ace, decided instead to ban me from all NHS premises for six months.

This was a bizarre move, especially since I hadn’t set foot in an NHS building for years. I was still entitled to go for medical appointments (although I had none), but presumably not allowed to visit patients, although I didn’t know anyone in hospital at the time, so no difference there. I was still entitled to submit FOI requests as I had been doing, but presumably not allowed to protest by waving placards outside NHS buildings, which I wasn’t doing anyway. But, as pointless and absurd as it may be, banned I was.

I can only suspect Jeff’s motive was to to feel better about himself, like he’d actually achieved something, but here’s the irony: while they were busy “punishing” me, they quietly dropped the requirement for children to produce negative PCR tests before returning to school. So, in the end, something got through. But the message was clear: dissent would not be tolerated.

Since then, I’ve kept busy. I’ve been prodding, poking, and shining a light on the fraud and abuse that fuelled the covid tyranny. This wasn’t just about masks or tests; it was about the false claims of authority that let these institutions get away with it all.

Last year, I had the honour of being interviewed by Dr Ahmad Malik about my activism. We discussed the council’s capitulation on masks, the informed consent documents I created, and how this fight has unfolded. And now, HART have invited me to share my story as someone who chose the difficult path by communicating the truth about covid policies and their effects.

Looking back, I’m pleased to say that the threats didn’t stop me. Neither did losing my career. And while I’ve chosen that difficult path, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Like I said, it’s been an incredible journey.

MJ Sutherland

Founder of Declaration of Dumfries

Home

https://declarationofdumfries.substack.com/
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December 27, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , | Leave a comment

Global Engagement Center officially shuts down, but censorship efforts likely to persist through State Department offices

By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | December 27, 2024

“The GEC is dead – long live the GEC!” That would be one way to summarize the situation around the US State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) that has formally shut down.

But judging by previous announcements, the move could prove to be by and large symbolic, as there are plans to continue the work by funding it, and assigning the 120 GEC staff to other offices and bureaus.

And the work has included surveilling Americans and flagging their social media posts for censorship in the US, critics have said.

Many Republican lawmakers have been among those critics over the previous years, and so has Elon Musk, who in 2023 did not shy away from branding GEC as “a threat to our democracy” – as the worst among the government entities that engaged in censorship and media manipulation.

Musk, who is now set to become a member of President Trump’s administration, and others raised the alarm when it came to light that the recent spending bill proposal included continued bankrolling of the GEC.

The GEC launched in 2016 and has been repeatedly accused and investigated as essentially an example of a “policy gun” supposedly designed to tackle foreign disinformation challenges, that the outgoing administration turned on its own citizens, threatening their right to free speech online.

The end of GEC as such came with the spending bill passed last week in Congress removing the approximately $61 million in funding that the agency received every year.

When it comes to “the next steps” regarding staff and unfinished GEC projects, the State Department said it was “consulting” with Congress on these issues.

The State Department now on its way out has insisted that the GEC worked to counter Russian, Chinese, etc., disinformation.

But one of the House investigations that looked into the activities of the agency, conducted by the Committee on Small Business, looked into the ways the government funded companies who then damaged competitiveness of small businesses online because of their lawful speech.

The GEC also shows up in an interim report by the House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government as coordinating with third parties to censor Americans ahead of the 2020 election.

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Deception, Full Spectrum Dominance | , | Leave a comment

IOF storm Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, set fire to premises

Israel detonated explosive-laden robots, destroyed hospital facilities

Al Mayadeen | December 27, 2024

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) conducted Friday a harrowing assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, setting five of its sections on fire after raiding it, abducting patients and medical staff, and forcing them to strip.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the fire had begun spreading to all buildings of the hospital, adding that the occupation forces burned the operations and surgery sections, as well as the laboratory, maintenance, and emergency units.

In an alarming escalation, the IOF launched an airstrike in the vicinity of the hospital, after storming its premises and forcibly displacing 300 patients. Many of these patients, who were dependent on life-saving medical devices, were left in the open, exposed to the harsh cold, further endangering their fragile health.

IOF also thoroughly searched the patients and medical staff, adding to the trauma.

After forcibly displacing the patients and hospital staff, the IOF abducted the patients, along with residents from surrounding areas, and gathered them in the yard of al-Fakhoura School amid harsh weather conditions.

The move has been condemned as a grave violation of international humanitarian law, highlighting the Israeli military’s disregard for the sanctity of medical facilities and the welfare of the vulnerable in Gaza.

Inevitable fate of northern Gaza people will be death

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Gaza noted that with the targeting of Kamal Adwan Hospital, all hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip have gone out of service.

On his part, the director of hospitals in the Gaza Strip underlined that “the free world must intervene immediately to stop the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip,” pointing out that medical staff are being subjected to abuse by Israeli forces in various hospitals across the strip that they are storming.

The suspension of services at Kamal Adwan Hospital deprives the people of northern Gaza of medical care, the director said, warning that under the current situation, the inevitable fate of the people in the area will be death.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, received a clear threat from the occupation that he will be arrested this time.

Hamas condemns the attack as a war crime

In response to the latest Israeli assault, Hamas condemned the actions as a “war crime” added to a growing list of atrocities committed by “Israel” against the Palestinian people. The group slammed the international community for its continued inaction on protecting civilians and medical facilities.

It further accused the US of complicity in the ongoing aggression, calling the Israeli military’s actions “Zionist war crimes” committed amid global silence.

The movement held the Israeli occupation and the US administration fully responsible for the lives of patients, the injured, and the medical staff working in the hospital. This follows their complete isolation from means of communication and reports of abuse, the arrest of several individuals, and their transfer to an unknown location.

Hamas urged the international community, including the United Nations, to break its silence and take immediate action to halt the Israeli ongoing genocide in Gaza. The group called for measures to ensure accountability for the Israeli entity’s atrocities, demanding that Israeli officials face justice for their crimes against humanity.

IOF target al-Awda Hospital with direct gunfire

In yet another attack on hospitals in Gaza, IOF fired on the al-Awda Hospital and its surrounding areas in northern Gaza earlier today. The bombardment followed the detonation of a remote-controlled explosive device near the facility in the early morning hours.

Concurrently, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has confirmed the death of Dr. Ahmed al-Zaharneh, a physician at the European Gaza Hospital, who passed away due to the extremely cold conditions in Gaza, with his body discovered in his tent in the Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Over 10 Palestinians killed in ongoing Israeli airstrikes

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that more than 10 Palestinians have been killed, with at least 30 others injured, most of them women and children, in a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since the early hours of Friday morning, amid intensified attacks on the northern part of the Strip.

Among the targeted areas was the Halawah land in Jabalia al-Balad, northern Gaza, where several Palestinians were injured. Additionally, Israeli forces targeted a home in the al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, killing five Palestinians and injuring three others.

In the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, another home was hit. However, Civil Defense teams were unable to reach the site to rescue the injured, as the occupation had previously and categorically refused any coordination with the Red Cross.

The scale of destruction and loss of life continues to escalate as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, with medical and civilian facilities increasingly under attack.

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture | , , , | Leave a comment

In America It’s Another Week to be Proud of!

By Philip Giraldi • Unz Review • December 26, 2024

Something good happened in Washington last week, suggesting that the year might actually end on a high note without Joe Biden starting World War 3 and opening up all the country’s prisons for the on-the-street rehabilitation of the inmates where they will undoubtedly learn new skills. The good thing was the signing by Biden of a bill, perhaps with a little bit of help from his friends to make sure he spelled his name correctly, to make the Bald Eagle the official bird of the United States of America. The Eagle has been around the American Republic virtually since its foundation, appearing on the Great Seal and on various documents and even on currency, but it has never been officially dubbed the national bird.

All honor of place is due to the great bald eagle, but one might recall that Benjamin Franklin once suggested that the best choice for the national bird would be the wild turkey. And Biden still has time for mischief, including possibly ennobling turkeys or even the issuance of a pardon to himself for ignoring the United States Constitution for four years. And Joe might well choose to go preemptive by pardoning Hillary Clinton for all those classified emails and other documents that somehow disappeared from her home and office ten years ago. But apart from that, it is somehow reassuring to be able to keep repeating “only three more weeks of Biden and Harris” even though the potential for more damage to the Bill of Rights remains enormous.

Joe is well remembered for his open borders invitation which has produced huge crowds of happy American voters who were clearly not delighted to share the burden of millions of uneducated and unskilled foreigners who have demonstrated their ability to burn to death women sleeping on subway trains in New York City just to see what a flaming human body looks like. Oh, and the new Americans have to be housed and fed by the existing population as the process grinds on, but that is what the Democrats running nearly all the major US cities have come to expect from a cowed population that now understands that opposing government policies puts one on the FBI enemies list.

Joe and his stalwart band of liars have also connived in pulling together two wars in which the United States had no actual interest, arming and funding both Ukraine and Israel. Israel has said thank you by adroitly engaging in genocide against the Palestinian people while Kiev is somewhat clumsily occupied in trying to draw the US and NATO into open warfare against Russia, which would become a nuclear World War 3, so there is still time Joe! And then there is the new war going on in Syria where the US armed and trained militias are fighting similarly armed and trained militias controlled by the Turks, who are poised to divide what once was a place called Syria with the Israelis. The Zionists have for many years been planning to exterminate Lebanese and Syrians as well as Palestinians to create a Greater Israel.

But Joe and his buddies apparently are not satisfied with having started two wars when there are so many other places that need a stern dose of the old “rules based international order” to get their houses in order. China is number one on the list as it is outperforming the United States and the Europeans economically. And one can always use the excuse that it is threatening good old Taiwan to crank up a shooting war. And then there is Iran, everyone’s favorite when it comes to “who is next on the list?” Israel has eliminated Hezbollah and Syria, with US connivance and approval, to open the door to destroying the Iranian non-existent nuclear weapons program. Both Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been openly discussing that option as it would mean bombing Iran’s military bases as well as its technical research facilities. Donald Trump has been involved in similar discussions with Netanyahu.

How the attacks on Iran might play out is interesting to contemplate and might follow something like the model of what happed to Syria. Recent reports indicate that something unexpected took place during an Israeli bombing attack directed against a Syrian strategic military site located near the city of Tartus. Israel has been bombing Syria constantly since the government of Bashar al-Assad fell and it has particularly targeted any sites or weapons warehouses that the new government can use to defend itself or establish its territorial integrity. The bombing in question used what many suspect to be a tactical nuclear weapon in an effort to completely obliviate the Syrian military installation that houses scud surface-to-surface missiles among other high-level ordnance. A huge explosion was noted on seismographs located five hundred miles away, as far as Iznik in Turkey. The blast might have been caused by the detonation of the many weapons stored in the facility, but the suspicion grows that Israel, protected as always by Washington even when it commits mass murder or defies international conventions on banned weapons, continues to believe that it can do and get away with anything.

Even if Biden does not open any new doors to further deploy the US military, there is considerable danger that he will succeed in locking new President Donald Trump in the conflicts currently going on. Trump is not averse to using force when it is what he considers the best option. He has lately said some ridiculous things, arguing that the United States considers the “ownership and control of Greenland” to be an “absolute necessity” for maintaining American “national security” and “freedom throughout the world.” This has naturally riled the people who actually live in Greenland who now are wondering how they are blocking freedom globally.

The statement on Greenland came after Trump in a conversation at Mar-a-Lago demoted Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada by giving him the title of “Governor”, calling Canada the 51st State of the United States “union,” which would “save on taxes and military protection.” Trump also has threatened to take over the Panama Canal and tweeted “we’ll see about that!” in response to the President of Panama’s declaration that every inch of the Panama Canal belongs to Panama. Trump then posted up a graphic on his website featuring “Welcome to the United States Canal!” above a picture of the American flag flying over a lock in the Panama Canal. Trump has also allegedly privately considered invading Mexico in order to combat the drug cartels on the US border and using American soldiers to block illegal immigrants seeking to cross.

Trump’s ignorance over who is doing what in the Middle East is astonishing but largely derives from his own personal and family attachment to Zionism and more particularly to his reliance on billionaire Jewish donors. The serial appointments of pro-Israel nominees to the key cabinet posts where decisions impacting Israel will be made for the next four years both will shape policy and guarantee that Trump stays on track with Israel, just as Joe Biden did when surrounded by his own Jewish neocons. Trump has already vowed that there will be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if the remaining Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip are not released by his January 20th inauguration.

Likewise, Israeli government officials, including Netanyahu, cannot wait for current Secretary of State Antony Blinken to be replaced by Florida congressman Marco Rubio. Blinken has been a complete tool of Israel but he projects a certain timidity. Rubio shows no such restraint and is very clear on what he believes to be true. He recently called Hamas “animals” and made clear that they are “100% to blame” for everyone killed in Israel and in Gaza during the current war. The moment he assumes control, there will be the “maximum pressure” that Trump often cites on Hamas to surrender or face the consequences. The Trump administration will supply Israel with bunker-busting bombs and whatever else is needed to kill anyone perceived to be an enemy of the Jewish state. Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said, “If you love America, you should love Israel.” He will back that up by delivering on Israel’s military needs as defined by Netanyahu.

So there you go! The old year is ending on both a bang and a whimper. Joe Biden still has plenty of opportunity to raise hell and tie Trump to certain policies, particularly when it comes to continuing “useless” wars. Trump for his part will enter office owned by Israel and led by the nose by his belligerent cabinet. The actual needs and interests of the American people will be, as usual, invisible to the politicians and lost in the shuffle.

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Alawites Are Syrians Too

By Peter Ford | 21st Century Wire | December 27, 2024

Alawites in their towns and villages in the Tartous and Lattakia provinces of Syria are being subjected to hideous pogroms under the new Islamist dispensation in Syria. And the world turns its back. The Alawites are just too inconvenient for the emerging preferred narrative.

While Christians, Kurds, Armenians and women have their vocal champions in the West, Alawites have no-one. Abandoned by Asad, the Russians and even the Iranians, the Alawites are all alone.

Historically despised in Syria for poverty, backwardness and ‘superstition’, not accepted until recently even by Shia as fellow Muslims, the Alawites are now anathematised for having allegedly been the backbone of the fallen Assad ruling system.

Ravening wolves descend on Alawite villages

Since Day 1 of the new jihadi era Alawites have been hounded, intimidated, beaten up, killed, mutilated, raped and pillaged. Gangs of gunmen have rounded up surrendering Alawite soldiers for roadside executions. Alawite judges have been murdered. Alawite householders have been expelled from their houses to make way for jihadi families. Thousands have been put to flight into the mountains or across the Lebanese border. Shrines have been desecrated. Armed gangs roam the streets flaunting ISIS and Al Qaida flags.

If any of this gets reported at all in Western or Middle Eastern media it is always alongside claims by the new HTS junta in Damascus that these incidents are aberrations and that perpetrators are being called to order. But they are not. The instances multiply. And how unsurprising is that when the slogan of the so-called Islamist revolution was “Christians to Beirut, Alawites to the grave”? What the world would see if it would just open its eyes is visceral bloody sectarianism. This goes way beyond the score-settling that inevitably occurs when one side wins a conflict. It is in the DNA of the fundamentalist pro tem winners.

Myths about Alawite power

Some of the hatred of Alawites arises from the myth that the Alawites ruled Syria in the Assad era. It is true that the Alawites as a community saw their position in Syrian society improve after the Alawite general Hafez Al Asad became President. Young Alawite men from impoverished families had since the days of the French mandate seen career opportunities in the army when other communities with opportunities in business or elsewhere in the state spurned such careers. A cadre of Alawites made their way up the ladder, culminating in Hafez Al Asad’s coup.

But Alawites never dominated Assadist Syria as much as was alleged. The business sector remained firmly in the hands of Sunnis and Christians. Alawites rarely held key positions in government cabinets. In the army, while a disproportionate segment of officers were Alawites, the top generals were almost always Sunnis. As were most of the rank and file. Alawites held key positions in the security apparatus, but even there the pinnacle was usually occupied by Sunnis.

In their heartlands of coastal Syria Alawite social life was much like that of the related Alevi community just up the coast in Turkey: more liberal, more emancipated than predominantly Sunni areas.

For this, and for their links to Assad, the Alawites are now being punished. Even those links to Assad were often strained: Alawites, perhaps because they were less likely to be accused of disloyalty, were often more vocal in their criticisms of the government and the security services than others. Alawites suffered as much as anybody from the impoverishment brought on by the war and by Western sanctions, blocking of reconstruction and deprivation of the oil and gas in the US/Kurdish area.

Persecution of Alawites doesn’t fit the narrative

Western powers and media look away from the vile torment of the Alawites. They can hardly disguise their glee at having had their Christmas come early with the toppling of Assad and the discomfiture of Russia and Iran. They prefer to revel in the new genre of ‘Assad porn’: stories, rarely fact-checked, of mass burials of political prisoners (mostly war dead, in fact), increasingly sensational claims about the notorious Sednaya Prison, as well as fake prisoners stumbling out of torture chambers, ‘liberated’ by CNN star reporters, and of course – chemical weapons somehow not quite yet found etc, etc.

Western governments and UN agencies lose all dignity rushing to kiss the feet of the erstwhile terrorist now moderate new Sultan of Damascus. They mouthe platitudes about the need for ‘inclusion’ as though all that was at stake was a corporations’ DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) score, rather than very lives of terrified Alawites and others, just over the hill. They want to lift sanctions and get on with cementing the new regime into the Western system. Human rights come way down the list of priorities now that the West has what it wants.

The new Badlands

But the Alawites are brave. They are fighting back. They are resisting the Islamist gangs who come to confiscate their weapons, without which they and their families fear they will be butchered. And how is this presented in the media? Ah, these are ‘Assadist forces’.

Well let me tell you this. The new jihadi overlords may rule but they will not have control in areas like the Alawite and Kurdish heartlands, where they fail to respect communities and try to impose their jihadi system out of the barrel of a gun. These will be the jihadis’ Badlands, just as the Eastern areas bordering Iraq were the ISIS-spawning Badlands for the Assad government.

Author Peter Ford is a geopolitical and global affairs analyst, and former British Ambassador to Syria (2003-2006) and Bahrain (1999-2002). See more of Peter’s work here.

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

Ex-NATO boss made head of Bilderberg Group

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg © Getty Images / Omar Havana
RT | December 27, 2024

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who was at the helm the bloc for the past decade, has officially joined the secretive Bilderberg Group as co-chairman of the annual closed-door meetings involving the world’s most powerful and wealthy individuals.

The elite club was founded in 1954, officially to improve dialogue between Europe and the US. Every year, some 130 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, intelligence, labor, academia and the media are invited to the gathering.

The forums are generally not announced in advance and are held beneath a veil of secrecy, with attendees forbidden from disclosing any information derived from discussions. This has sparked a number of conspiracy theories as to the nature of the group’s activities and its influence on global events.

According to an update on the group’s website, Stoltenberg, who attended his first Bilderberg summit in 2002, has now been made the head of the group’s “steering committee,” which decides the agenda and who gets to participate.

Media outlets, including the Daily Mail, have speculated that the move could be a sign the group is undergoing a leadership transformation ahead of the presidency of Donald Trump, who has frequently criticized NATO and has hinted at cutting US funding of foreign conflicts after he enters office next month.

As head of NATO, Stoltenberg played a key role in the bloc’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict, which first started not long after he took office in 2014. He has proudly noted that during his tenure he oversaw “the largest reinforcement of our collective defence in a generation,” and that “defence spending is on an upward trajectory across the alliance.”

The Daily Mail reported that many of Stoltenberg’s friends at Bilderberg have directly benefited from this uptick.

The Guardian has hailed Stoltenberg’s appointment, saying it “cements the group’s role at the heart of transatlantic strategy,” particularly as the former NATO chief is also set to take over as chairman of the Munich Security Conference, which has also played a key role in shaping Western defense policy and diplomacy.

“Combined with the Munich Security Conference, this is a good platform for collaborating with leaders from politics, business, and academia. It is also an important meeting place for strengthening ties between Europe and the US. I look forward to contributing to Bilderberg’s work,” Stoltenberg told the DN.no news outlet.

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Militarism | | Leave a comment

Convicted US spy worked on ‘genetic screening’ of Russians – FSB

RT | December 27, 2024

US national Eugene ‘Gene’ Spector, who was found guilty of espionage earlier this week, had been collecting “biomedical” data in the country, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said. The authorities believe these materials could have been used by the US government to develop a genetic screening system for analyzing Russia’s population.

Over the past several years, there have been a number of high-profile cases in which Russian security services have accused American citizens of espionage. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Moscow and Western nations have also increasingly expelled each other’s diplomats, claiming they are spies.

In a press release on Friday, the FSB alleged that the “American national, acting in the interest of the Pentagon and a commercial organization affiliated with it, gathered and handed over to a foreign party various biotechnological and biomedical data, including classified materials, with the aim of creating a high-speed genetic screening system of Russia’s population by the US.”

On Monday, a court in Moscow sentenced Spector to 15 years in prison as well as a 14 million-ruble ($135,000) fine.

The former chair of the board of Russia’s Medpolymerprom Group, a supplier of disposable medical items, was handed the punishment in conjunction with his previous sentencing for acting as an intermediary in a bribery case. In 2022, the US citizen of Russian origin was sentenced to 3.5 years behind bars after being found guilty of providing an aide to former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich with free trip vouchers from 2015 to 2016. The judge ruled at the time that Spector had thus remunerated the woman for promoting the products of several pharmacy companies.

Last August, a court separately ordered his arrest on suspicion of espionage, though the details of the case were not made public.

Earlier this year, Russia and the US exchanged a total of 26 individuals held in several countries, in the largest prisoner swap of this kind since the end of the Cold War. Among those sent to the US were Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan – both of whom had been convicted of espionage in Russia. In return, ten Russian nationals who Washington accused of being intelligence agents and cybercriminals were sent to Moscow.

In September, Moscow declared six British diplomats persona non grata, claiming that their activities in the country “showed signs of intelligence and subversive work.” The UK Foreign Office dismissed the accusations as “completely baseless.”

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , | Leave a comment

Biden Orders ‘Surge’ of Weapons to Ukraine in Response to Major Russian Attack

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | December 26, 2024

Russia launched a major missile and drone barrage targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The attack followed a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian residential building. President Joe Biden said he was outraged by the Russian attack and ordered the Pentagon to continue to surge weapons to Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Russia fired an estimated 170 drones and missiles at Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing several deaths, widespread damage, and power outages. “The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid,” Biden said in response.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the attack on Twitter, and said blackouts remain. “ Over 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred attack drones. The targets are our energy infrastructure. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine,” he wrote. “Our defenders managed to shoot down more than 50 missiles and a significant number of drones. Unfortunately, there have been hits. As of now, there are power outages in several regions.”

Biden subsequently ordered a “surge” of military support for Kiev. “In recent months, the United States has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way.” He continued, “I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in its defense against Russian forces.”

The Russian attack on Ukraine follows a series of provocations by Kiev. Ukraine has used long-range Western missiles to hit targets deep into Russian territory, fired drones at civilian targets in Russia, and assassinated a Russian general.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin may target Ukraine’s decision-making centers if Kiev continues to order “terror” attacks. “We select targets for strikes on the territory of Ukraine, proceeding solely from threats to Russia. These may be military facilities and defense enterprises.” The diplomat added, “Decision-making centers in Kiev can also quite be such targets.”

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

Iran FM: China visit marks ‘new chapter’ in strategic ties, heralds ‘golden’ era

Press TV – December 27, 2024

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his visit to China will open a “new chapter” in strategic cooperation between the two countries and herald a “golden” era for bilateral relations.

Araghchi made the remarks in an article published by China’s official People’s Daily newspaper on Friday, on the day that he was to head to Beijing at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

“The next golden 50 years of Iran-China relations will demonstrate that this visit marks the beginning of a new chapter of strategic cooperation between the two countries,” he wrote.

The top Iranian diplomat also noted that Iran and China have long engaged in “practical cooperation” to promote multilateralism and develop indigenous values, adding that both sides have defended each other’s fundamental interests in international forums.

He also hailed “pragmatic” Iran-China ties, citing close political and defense coordination, exchange of high-level delegations, as well as cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the BRICS group of emerging economies, and the Beijing-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March 2023.

“Iran and China share common interests and concerns not only at bilateral and regional levels, but also at the trans-regional and international levels,” he emphasized.

“While firmly believing in the significance of multilateralism and the benefits of joint cooperation towards the prosperity of human society, both countries keep cooperating closely in multilateral mechanisms, including the SCO and the BRICS.”

China is Iran’s largest trade partner. Both states are subject to different levels of illegal sanctions imposed by the US.

The two countries signed the long-term strategic partnership deal in March 2021 to reinforce their long-standing economic and political alliance.

In his article, Araghchi said that West Asia is facing numerous challenges, the core of which is the Palestine issue.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, caused by the Israeli genocide and supported by some world powers, has been exacerbated by the inaction of the international community and irresponsible behavior of some parties, he noted.

Iran and China believe that an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid are now the most important priorities, he said.

The Iranian foreign minister further referred to the recent developments in Syria, urging respect for the country’s unity, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Tehran, he pointed out, believes that the Syrian people should decide the future of their country without destructive intervention or external imposition.

“We are witnessing unprecedented changes in the world that have simultaneously created complex “opportunities” and “challenges” and put countries at a historical crossroad, where they must choose between confrontation/cooperation, exclusion/inclusion, closeness/openness, chaos/peace,” he said.

“Some states are trying to restrict and force others to choose their desired values ​​and interests by distorting the facts, falsely dividing the world into democratic and non-democratic, and resorting to sanctions, pressure and double standards. However, Iran and China will always stand on the right side of history and by the side of development, prosperity, cooperation, and friendship between the countries of the Global South in a bid to counter unilateralism and bullying.”

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

South Korea votes to impeach acting president

RT | December 27, 2024

South Korea’s Parliament has voted to impeach acting head of state Han Duck-soo over his refusal to appoint justices to the Constitutional Court, local media reported on Friday. The appointments are necessary to finalize the impeachment of Han’s predecessor, President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was stripped of his powers earlier this month.

The motion to impeach Han, filed by the opposition Democratic Party, was passed with 192 votes in favor in the 300-member parliament, called the National Assembly, speaker Woo Won-shik announced in a televised statement.

The National Assembly initially voted to impeach Yoon on December 14 over his brief imposition of martial law in the country. On December 3, he had declared emergency martial law on the grounds that the opposition – which he accused of being sympathetic towards North Korea – had allegedly been preparing a “rebellion.”

The impeachment decision by the National Assembly meant that Yoon was automatically suspended from office. However, in order to complete the procedure, it must be upheld by the Constitutional Court. The nine-member bench is currently short of three judges, and, while it can technically vote with only six members, a single dissenting vote would reinstate Yoon to office under South Korean law.

As interim head of state, Han was expected to appoint the justices to fill the vacancies following requests from the opposition party, which is against Yoon’s reinstatement. On Thursday, the National Assembly passed the appointment consent bill for three candidates, two of which were nominated by the opposition and one by the ruling conservative People Power Party. However, at an emergency press-conference immediately after, Han said he could not appoint the justices right away as the PPP did not support the nominees, and the appointment could harm the constitutional order.

“The consistent principle embedded in our Constitution and laws is to refrain from exercising significant exclusive presidential powers, including the appointment of constitutional institutions,” he argued in his address, adding that “a consensus between the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly, representing the people, must first be reached.” In response to this, the opposition proposed impeaching Han as well.

“It has become clear that Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo has neither the qualifications nor the will to protect the Constitution,” Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party’s floor leader, said in a statement announcing the motion.

Friday’s vote marked the first time in South Korea’s modern history that an impeachment motion has been filed against an acting president. The country’s finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, is now expected to take over as acting president.

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Deception | | Leave a comment

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